


Spring Rains of Altissia

by Aithilin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, Fluff, Ignis the Optimist, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 02:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18682309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/pseuds/Aithilin
Summary: When Noctis agreed to go to Altissia on official royal business, he didn't actually know what the spring weather would be like.





	Spring Rains of Altissia

Spring in Altissia was not what he had expected. Noctis had expected the city to be a burst of potted flowers— the fragrant blooms of the country’s green hills beyond the city on the water carried across the waves, the multitude of greenery bursting with fresh blossoms from every window and ledge and barrier along the canals, vines and ivy and fresh flowers overflowing across stone ledges and iron barriers like the great waterfalls. In summer, the city was a mass of festive bright colours that could rival any light display in Insomnia. In autumn, the canals were awash in golds and crimson leaves, the faded petals a confetti on the wind. And in winter, Noctis remembered, the ice and frosts clung to every glistening surface while the lights the city was known for reflected a thousand different ways around them in the plazas, a shining magic of frozen stonework and statues. 

In spring, he had expected the same grand beauty he had come to expect of Altissia. 

He expected the streets to be lined with the starts of the summer flowers, the blossoms littering the canals in the fresh spring winds. He had expected the bustle he remembered from the other seasons; the warmth and brightness, with the golden lights at night and the sun shining across the waters during the day. He had imagined avenues and plazas not unlike an Insomnian spring— a flowering burst of fresh air to banish any clinging remnant frost from winter. He had expected the festive colours of his home shining through the first dreary rains, the flood of people and lights like a deluge across the usually vibrant city. 

“Did you want to know the forecast, Noct?”

Ignis had promised that there would be the city’s customary lights strung across shops and plazas. That the canals would be lined with fresh trees and the air buzzing with the romance the city was famous for. There would be small songbirds skittering between the branches, pecking at the late buds yet to bloom.

“Is it going to change from rain?”

Instead, from the moment they stepped off the ferry and presented their papers to Altissean customs, the grey glistening wet of a persistent rain had settled in. Altissia was grey and muted outside of the hotel windows, the royal suite a warmer and more welcoming destination than any of the restaurants and shops. And certainly more welcoming than the planned evening balls Noctis had agreed to attend. 

The balls and events he had agreed to before realising just what a spring in Altissia was were the only promises of light and company— no matter how frustrating— he could see.

“I’m afraid not.”

Before realising just how dreary the most romantic city in the world can be when the weather was against them. 

“Specs,” Noctis slumped down in one of the stately armchairs; the desk beneath the high, arched, grandiose windows already covered with the tourist maps picked up from the kiosk at the border control. Papers and pamphlets, Ignis’ organised notes and plans and schedules piled aside as Noctis glared at the offending grey clouds outside. At the downpour that obscured the open waters of the bay and the green hills beyond; “this sucks.”

“I know, highness.”

“But?”

“But you agreed to represent Lucis.” Ignis offered a smile against the glare his statement earned him. “And I’m certain, darling, that there are plenty of things we might still do despite the weather.”

There were theatres and arenas, there were bistros and romantic promenades. Noctis had visited them all before. The museums with their stately exhibits, the arcades with their collections of games from across Eos. He had visited the shops and restaurants and bars that simultaneously buzzed over his arrival, and ignored his presence. He had attended the festivals of the city with Ignis at his side, with Gladio in the shadows or mingling with others at his side, with Glaives lurking the shadows to watch the intentions of other guests. 

Noctis knew that entertainment in the great, glamorous city was just outside the door. 

But sheets of the grey deluge just outside wiped all memory of former entertainment from his mind. “Like?”

The muted city beyond was lost in a haze of speckled light against the glass, and the quiet promise of a bored warmth staring inside. Ignis, however, smiled, stepping behind Noctis to take stock of the dreary outside world for himself. He set his hands on Noctis’ shoulders, leaning down to kiss Noctis’ cheeks. 

“There is a restaurant next door,” Ignis offered another smile, another reassurance; “if you would like to venture out?”

“What if I want to stay in?”

“Then I shall accommodate. But,” Ignis moved again, drawing Noctis away from the grey slump by the ornate window and reports and papers patiently waiting for attention; “I’m told that the city can be beautiful in the rain as well.”

Beyond the luxury and warmth of the Leville, and still a whole city away from the rise of the state homes and seats of Altissean government, Noctis could see the dull grey rains and wonder how anyone could say the cold and wet was pretty in any state. He knew the parks and forests back home— the grey of the early spring rains to awake the lush green summer grasses; dull and brown in the first few weeks free from the snows. He knew the overflowing rivers, dammed and strengthened by measures that could close down the lower streets and wetter districts. There were weeks when Insomnia wasn’t all that pretty too. 

Outside, he could see the puddles in the dips of the cobblestone plazas, and the rivers of draining water rushing towards the canals. He could see the sea of colourful umbrellas as people rushed through the wet streets. He could see the struggling reflection of the hotel and restaurant lights spreading across the glistening street; wavering in the well-fed puddles as the rest of the bay, the hills beyond, the statues and homes were lost behind the curtains of the rain.

It could be fun to rush through the rain. 

To chase after Ignis as they darted between awnings and covered alleys. As they paused in doorways and shop fronts and bistros sprawled out to the plazas. 

A little rain wouldn’t have mattered back home. 

“Will you show me then?”

“I would be delighted.” Ignis drew him up from the armchair and the dreary sights of grey drizzle. Outside of the quiet hotel and the muted view of the bay, Altissia was still a city unlike any others. “Lunch first, I should think. And then…”

“Then?”

“Then I would like to take you, Noct, out to see the plaza lights. Or perhaps the markets. There is a museum, as well, that you may like. And an aquarium that I’ve been told could rival those of Insomnia.”

“We’ve done all that, Specs.”

“Yes, but never in this weather.” Ignis offered a light jacket to ward off the worst of the downpour, and an umbrella of royal Lucian greys packed with the forethought of checking the forecast; “and never without a guard. Shall we make a date of it?”


End file.
